Retractable post

ABSTRACT

A floor mounted retractable post to restrain a serving cart in an aircraft in areas where a fixed post protruding above the floor would present a hazard. A spring-loaded, flush-mounted post is extendible by manual manipulation and is maintained flush with the floor upon depression when not in use.

[H] [451 Esme 5, 1973 8/1896Lewis.......7...........................119/125 11/1964 Laverone etal...I....................188/32 I54] RETRACTABLE POST [75] Inventors:Harold C. Nelson, Long Beach,

A. Sharp, FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Calif.; Richard Lakewood,Colo.

McDonnell Douglas Corporation,

[73] Assignee:

Primary Examiner-Duane A. Reger Santa Monica, Calif.

Att0rney-Walter J. Jason, Donald L. Royer and J 1971 Robert 0.Richardson [221 Filed:

[21] Appl. No.: 149,461

ABSTRACT A floor mounted retractable post to restrain a serving cart inan aircraft in areas where a fixed post protruding above the floor wouldpresent a hazard. A springloaded, flushmounted post is extendible bymanual manipulation and is maintained flush with the floor upondepression when not in use.

4 8 2H24 WINS oom 6UP 9 2 "45 .l. 53 luzr m WM l "04 5 2 m B B N 00 n 8m .l i ""02 M1 WWR 1? s Lh l d Std nil UIF 1111] 2 8 55 5 [56]References Cited 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS209,288 10/1878 Peppler 19/125 RETRACTABLE POST BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION Many existing passenger-carrying aircraft use serving carts todeliver food, drink and other necessities to the passengers. The servingcarts are also used as service carts to return food, serving items, andother used or soiled articles to the galleys. The serving carts arepushed by stewards or stewardesses up and down the aisles in theaircraft. The serving carts have handoperated wheel brakes but theirweight, which is in excess of 200 pounds, high center of gravity andnarrow width provide a serious passenger damage potential should theaircraft deviate from a smooth, level flight or the cart is jostledaside by a passenger or airline personnel.

Fixed posts extend above the floor in certain nonpassenger areas. Theseservice carts may be attached to them as needed. However, fixed postsabove the floor in the passenger compartments and aisles when not in usepresent a hazard to passengers and airline personnel. Hence, aretractable flush-mounted post is desirable in these areas.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a retractable postwhich operates as a restraint for a serving cart in an airplane toeliminate the hazard to passengers from a cart moving or tipping. Therestraint post is flush with the airplane floor carpet when not in usebut can be extended upwardly to a use position from its retractedposition by a manual upward pull on the handle. This handle is attachedto the post and is flush-mounted in the floor. A housing is rigidlymounted in the aircraft floor so that the top surface of the post willbe flush with the carpet when the post is in the retracted position butwhich may be extendible to a height above the floor sufficient to beclamped with a serving cart that may be positioned thereover.

The inside wall surfaces of the housing is shaped to act as a camsurface. The spring and ball detent in the base of the post exerts anoutward force against the cam surface when the post is in the extendedposition to hold the post firmly in the extended position against thehousing. With the post in a retracted position the spring and ballengages another cam surface on the housing to exert a downward forcewhich holds the post head firmly against the bumper in the housing.These restraints are installed in all aircraft areas where serving cartsare required and which is used also for passenger egress or ingress.

For such a device to be practical for aircraft use, it must belightweight and yet sufficiently strong to with stand heavy loadingapplied from the serving cart and its contents from an emergencycondition and transfer that load into the airplane structure. The devicemust not present a hazard to the passenger walking up the aisle andtherefore the device must retract into a housing in the floor. It mustbe easily extended and retracted, endure long-term repeated action, beeasily installed, removed or replaced. It must be sealed against dirtand spilled liquids, and operates smoothly under all conditions, and,lastly, it must have an acceptable appearance as it is part of theaircraft interior.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a sectional view inelevation illustrating the post in the retracted or stored position;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view in elevation illustrating the post in theextended or use position; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the post mounted on the floor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS Reference is now madeto the drawings wherein is shown a housing 10 adapted to fit within anopening 12 in a floor M. This housing has a flange or collar portion 116having apertures therein for the insertion of screws 18 into the floor14 for the mounting thereof. Extending upwardly above the collar 16 is acarpet retainer ring 20 which extends outwardly over the edge 22 ofcarpet 24 on floor 14.

Housing 10 has a cylindrical wall of varied inner diameter extendingdown into the opening 12. Commencing with the upper inner surface wall26 which is of sufficient diameter to receive the head assembly 28 ofthe retractable post 36, such surface then turns inwardly to form aseating surface 30 upon which a bumper material 32 is cemented and uponwhich the head assembly 28 is seated when in the retracted position. Theinner wall then extends downwardly forming a cylindrical surface 34 ofsufficient size to receive the post 36. A molded seal 33 fits within anannular groove 40 within this wall surface 34. Extending downwardly theinner wall surface extends outwardly to form a shoulder 42 which servesas an upper stop limit when engaged by an outward projecting portion 44at the lower end of the shaft 36. The inner wall surface then extendsdownwardly at 46 and thence inwardly at 48 to form a cam against whichballs 50 and 52 are outwardly urged by spring 54. This camming actioncauses the outward projecting portion 44 of shaft 36 to engage shoulder42 of the housing and be continuously urged upwardly to thus preventrattle or vibration in the uppermost position of the post. The innersurface of the annular wall of housing It) then extends downwardly at 56and then flares outwardly at 58 to form a bell housing. This outwardlyflared portion 58 then provides a cam surface against which the balls 50and 52 are urged when the post is in its downward position. This surface58 urges the post 36 downwardly and hence avoids rattle or vibration inthe downward position.

Post 36 consists of a shaft 60 to which is detachably mounted the headassembly 28. The shaft is of uniform outside cylindrical configurationfor movement against molded seal 3% in wall 34 of the housing 10. At thebottom of the shaft 60 is a horizontal transverse cylindrical bore 62 inwhich is positioned a helical compression spring 54 urging outwardly theballs 50 and 52 positioned at each end of the spring.

The head assembly 28 has a downwardly extending threaded cylindricalmember 64 telescopically engageable with shaft 60. A pair of set screws66, 68 pass through the base portion 70 of the head assembly 28 andengage the upper end of the shaft 60 for adjustment purposes. When inthe down position the base portion FIB of the head assembly 28 engagesthe bumper 32 on the shoulder 30 of the housing 10 and thus limit thedownward movement. This adjustment is such that the balls 50 and 52,urged outwardly by spring 54, en-

gage the cam surface 58 of the housing and thus urge the post 36downwardly in a snug, non-vibrating or rat tle condition.

Mounted on the upper surface of the base portion 70 of the head assembly28 is a molded pad 72 and a pivotally mounted handle 74 mounted withinrecess 76. Handle 74 does not pivot upwardly a full 90 so that when itis released it will fall back with its upper surface flush with theupper surface of the base portion 70.

In operation, to lift the post 36 up to its use position the handle 74may be manually engaged by the operator and pulled upwardly. To returnthe post 36 to its non-use position, the operator simply steps down onthe molded pad 72.

Having thus described an illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention, it is to be understood that modifications thereof will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art and it is to be understood thatthese deviations are to be construed as part of the present invention.

We claim:

1. A retractable post assembly for vertical movement of a post between aretractable position within a housing and an extended position above thehousing, said assembly comprising:

a post housing adapted to be mounted in an opening in the floor,

said housing having an annular opening in the top thereof,

said opening extending downwardly and having a varied inner diameter,

a post having a head assembly with a flat undersurface and a shaft, saidhead assembly being of a larger diameter than the shaft of said post,

said opening having an inner cylindrical wall surface of sufficientdiameter to receive the head of said post therein for flush mountingthereof,

said inner wall surface having a turned in horizontal seating surfacefor said head assembly to limit downward movement of said post,

said inner wall surface having a turned out surface forming a shoulder,said post having an outward extension integral therewith and engageablewith said shoulder to limit upward vertical movement of said postrelative to said housing.

2. A retractable post assembly as set forth in claim 1,

said inner wall surface having a cam surface engageable by said wallengageable means to urge said post outward extension into contact withsaid shoulder when said post is in its extended position.

3. A retractable post assembly as set forth in claim 2,

said post outward extension being on the lower end thereof and having abore with a helical compression spring therein,

said wall engageable means being at each end of said spring andoutwardly urged thereby.

4. A retractable post assembly as set forth in claim 1,

said post having outwardly urged wall engageable means thereon,

said inner wall surface having a bell shaped configuration at the lowerend thereof,

said outwardly urged wall engageable means being in contact with saidbell shaped configuration when said post is in its retractable positionto thereby urge said post head assembly into engagement with said turnedin seating surface.

5. A retractable post assembly as set forth in claim 1,

said head assembly having a handle flush mounted therein,

said handle being pivotal from horizontal to less than vertical formanual withdrawal of said post from retractable position to extendedposition,

said handle returning to horizontal upon manual release thereof.

6. A retractable post assembly as set forth in claim 1,

said post having wall engageable means outwardly urged,

said inner wall surface having a first cam surface engageable by saidwall engageable means to urge said post outward extension into contactwith said shoulder when said post is in its extended position,

said inner wall surface having a second cam surface thereof engageablewith said wall engageable means to urge said head assembly against saidseating surface when said post is in its retractable position.

1. A retractable post assembly for vertical movement of a post between aretractable position within a housing and an extended position above thehousing, said assembly comprising: a post housing adapted to be mountedin an opening in the floor, said housing having an annular opening inthe top thereof, said opening extending downwardly and having a variedinner diameter, a post having a head assembly with a flat undersurfaceand a shaft, said head assembly being of a larger diameter than theshaft of said post, said opening having an inner cylindrical wallsurface of sufficient diameter to receive the head of said post thereinfor flush mounting thereof, said inner wall surface having a turned inhorizontal seating surface for said head assembly to limit downwardmovement of said post, said inner wall surface having a turned outsurface forming a shoulder, said post having an outward extensionintegral therewith and engageable with said shoulder to limit upwardvertical movement of said post relative to said housing.
 2. Aretractable post assembly as set forth in claim 1, said post having wallengageable means outwardly urged, said inner wall surface having a camsurface engageable by said wall engageable means to urge said postoutward extension into contact with said shoulder when said post is inits extended position.
 3. A retractable post assembly as set forth inclaim 2, said post outward extension being on the lower end thereof andhaving a bore with a helical compression spring therein, said wallengageable means being at each end of said spring and outwardly urgedthereby.
 4. A retractable post assembly as set forth in claim 1, saidpost having outwardly urged wall engageable means thereon, said innerwall surface having a bell shaped configuration at the lower endthereof, said outwardly urged wall engageable means being in contactwith said bell shaped configuration when said post is in its retractableposition to thereby urge said post head assembly into engagement withsaid turned in seating surface.
 5. A retractable post assembly as setforth in claim 1, said head assembly having a handle flush mountedtherein, said handle being pivotal from horizontal to less than 90*vertical for manual withdrawal of said post from retractable position toextended position, said handle returning to horizontal upon manualrelease thereof.
 6. A retractable post assembly as set forth in claim 1,said post having wall engageable means outwardly urged, said inner wallsurface having a first cam surface engageable by said wall engageablemeans to urge said post outward extension into contact with saidshoulder when said post is in its extended position, said inner wallsurface having a second cam surface thereof engageable with said wallengageable means to urge said head assembly against said seating surfacewhen said post is in its retractable position.